HONEY BANE
'You Can Be You'
(Crass Records)
12" March 4th 2022
I first heard Honey Bane when she sang for the brilliant and totally over looked Fatal Microbes who released the truly hypnotic 'Violence Grows' on the Split 12" EP with Poison Girls in 1978 on Small Wonder. Her vocals on that record were exceptional and made it a true punk classic. Especially being as she was so much younger than she sounded (14 at the time). It made a massive impact, with regular John Peel plays. So it was a complete suprise when they split up soon after. But you just knew she would reemerge in the future, but we never quite anticipated how or when? Then 'You Can Be You' hit the fan. Crass who were by now in 1980 at their peak creatively, were backing her on the first release of their label imprint Crass records. So it was another impressive move, although tax reasons may also have played a part as Crass were actually making cash by then! They went under the guise of Donna And The Kebabs (Honey's real name is Donna). Crass must've realised Honey's potential and give her the nod on those other bands who bombarded Crass HQ. with their tapes. It's an exceptional debut record to launch the label, and it was rarely bettered on the next 26 Crass releases. Featuring that clinical guitar intro, fed by those buzzsaw riffs grinding beneath as the shards pierce your audio range in a similar way the 'Pretty Vacant' intro did. Until the innevitable buzzsaw Crass trademark blast kicks in with drums and that ultra squelchy bass. I think this is Crass at probably their most commercial which is enhanced by the unmistakable vocal of Honey Bane. Unlike a lotta singers, you know straight away it's her. She has a sound all of her own, as she recounts her autobiographical story of life on the run from the authorities and the Social Services. A scene which she was actually living through when this recording was made. And is made even more profound by the sound of those echoing coconuts creating another dimension on this gritty punk 12 incher. Followed closely by 'Porno Grows' which sees Penny Rimbaud flexing his production muscles with that neat serene piano inclusion on top of those scraping mettalic strings. You have to give Honey due credit for giving us a very real deal performance from a 15 year old at the time of recording in late '79. Before that classical piano brings the track to a close, which was a rare commodity on Anarcho punk records at this stage. But little did we know Honey would herself become involved in Porn later on in the 1980's once her pop career had stalled. The record ends with 'Boring Conversations' which is more throwaway and less inventive and sounds more like an outtake from a Microbes session, only bolstered with the Crass backing track and those Spanish guitars. These backing tracks really do give the songs a lot of the edge, however the main credit has to go to Honey, coz when they are sung by a vocalist who really did have talent, it don't half make all the difference. Honey Bane despite everything that followed her, really does have a great Punk vocal delivery on this record. Such a shame it was wasted in her later poppier tracks, that did get her on Top Of The Pops in '81 (via a Jimmy Pursey production) and EMI/Zonophone backing. But her instant fame was very short lived. The sleeve comes with a lyric insert and some neat Gee Vaucher imagery. Along with a Honey Bane mini manifesto which made you laugh when her own career really took off less than 2 years later on the strength of this release. But this reissue is a great reminder of how good she was for a kid her age and at a vulnerable time in her life. Honey is now a 58 year old grandmother and must look upon this record with fond memories if nothing else. At Punk Rocker we remember her best for her punk attitude and tunes like this, which were always a load better than most of the other bands around her at the time. UK CONTENDER!
CRASS RECORDS
2022: PAGE 1
ANARCHISTWOOD
'Chiasmata'
(Ex Gratia Records)
LP March 10th 2022
Brand new album from London's zaniest exporters of off the wall performance art with punk rock riffs and political innuendo. Amidst all, the lingering smell of greasepaint pervades. Anarchistwood don't do things by halves! No Siree, in fact this record is all out abstract energy on an album that you will need a compass to navigate. Especially chasing that illusive white rabbit down all those numerous rabbit holes and experimental side streets. If you like an eclectic mix of sound in your punk, your most likely to get the whole kit and caboodle on this fucker! They blitz straight into action with the mantra "we must not 'Fear' the mind killer", a subject close to their heart. Which is a rip roaring start. I reckon fear is the biggest and most dangerous threat they confront on this album. Just check out the fantastic but thought provoking 'Clown' video for earlier reference. 'Alienation' is a booming monolith of bass driven high energy free form, with sax and hieroglyphic detached themes. Funkcutters vocals are the perfect articulation throughout this set. Her delivery is spot on as she sings "in and out, up and down, side to side, mind goes wide... and all the others". This track reminds me of somert Zappa would've come up with, if he was a South London punk brought up on Jazz, showtunes and Acid. I love those big heavy riffs that simply rock out yer speakers. Lets just say I'm not quite sure what the lyrics mean, even with the lyric sheet? But it don't half sound good? Amidst a Quincy MD soundbite rides in 'Bastard Ozymandias Laughs'. Which showcases a neat duel vocal between bassist Mitch Flacko (who must own one of the loudest suits in punk), he certainly ain't no John Doe in the vocal department. However Funkcutter steals his thunder with a performance in her vocal you can't see in audio, but can feel with a presence on this rather good mellow track. Also fighting for a piece of the action is the violin and a really neat guitar flanged lick, which I can't get enough of, along side that absorbing trumpet solo, phew! Clowns are very much a big part of this bands makeup (pardon the pun) and on 'Clowning' which is an Old Ernie cover (yeah me neither?), shows us a darker side via a lopsided beat and wasn't quite what I expected. But expect the unexpected with Anarchistwood. More horns signal the arrival of 'Drain'. A song that reminds me of the Dead Kennedys 'MTV Get Off the Air' horn section, it really is that good. The guitars kick in with one of the albums best riffs as elements of Pil's 'Flowers Of Romance' era, resonate beneath with a sniff of James Chance on Sax. While all that's going on, the major riff of this 6.33 minute opus prowls your stereo. It closes with a funny spoken word sketch on the dangers of being punk. Funkcutter has elements of Nina Hagen in her side tracked vocal performances, that go off on unparalleled tangents. Just how she manages to keep time in these songs that have no regular format is a talent in it's own right. 'Smiley' is a more regular upbeat number and shows the band can really knock a good tune together when they feel inclined. And when they do find that spot it show cases a really good vocal trait that reminds me of cowpunk, especially with the fiddle intrusions. Despite all this, it's got a serious subject matter about the War in Syria, but you'd never have guessed from hearing it. Maelfin Jester - 'Twas Day Risin' is like an early Cabaret Voltaire instrumental that features those plastic ghouls the Sleaford Mods on sample, in-between the funky oscillators. I was looking forward to the 'Chiasmata' choir track, wondering what on earth we could behold? Well it sure ain't no King singers that's fer sure, and even Pete Fenders eloquent piano couldn't save this one from "despair despair all of this true". But forget that, we are about to be confronted by one of the albums highlights with the anti 'War(t)hog' track. That offers us a sneak peak at how poppy and commercial this band could really become if they just tightened the reigns a touch. That mesmerising chorus is nailed to a hit in anyone's book. Just wait till you hear it. They all play brilliantly and It's easily one of the standout tracks and left us screaming for more than it's stingy 1.34 mins glimpse. 'Demon Kills' slows things down in this atmospheric crawl through the fires of hell as Miss Funkcutter narrates to us some scary ride through an existentialism manifestation. I was half expecting her to turn into a Reagan expletive from the Exorcist at any minute, which might've secured it's frightening impact. The album closes with the addictive 'Don't' and a call to "doo be doo be yourself" which is catchy as hell, and will be sung along to at their next gig by their growing fanbase no doubt. It's such a shame they lost founding member and Funks other half Candi Blackwood whilst this album was being made. Hence a major rethink and of course lockdown. Candi's intricate collage design features on the impressive front cover and plays on the guitars along side the gifted Wasp. But Funkcutter reassures us he wanted Anarchistwood to become an orchestra, and you know what, this album is! It's got horns, strings, piano and recorders and no doubt more. They even got a choir, but the less said about that the better tee hee. I find myself drawn to Anarchistwood's more poppier moments more and more with each listen, and those additional horns by Glenn and co give them that extra element. But I get the feeling the band need that freedom to experiment more, as these poppy refrains might be too regimented for a bunch of free spirits such as these. The lyrics to 'Don't' are about people who judge and polarise the punk scene and lifestyle, as well as all other forms of expression in this thing we call life. Made me think. Maybe I shouldn't judge or give an opinion on punk, but sometimes people send stuff in for review, so I feel it's my duty to at least listen and let you know how good or bad it is. Inspiration comes in all guises. If I lied and said everything was dandy, I'd be lying to myself, the band and whoever is reading this. If I said it was all fantastic and I thought otherwise who would I really be kidding me or the band? You have to be honest. I do respect this band a lot, they seem very genuine and are playing modern punk, which isn't just a faster version of an old rant routine or a sickly pop punk workout or even all out noise. This is a really modern take on the genre, and needs to be heard by others, not just shitty back street punk sites like this. You simply just can't go wrong with this album because it really is good fun! UK CONTENDER!
ANARCHISTWOOD
RUDIMENTARY PENI
'Rudimentary Peni'
(Sealed Records)
45 EP April 22nd 2022
Back in 1981 Rudimentary Peni literally come from outta nowhere to hit us with this debut EP featuring 12, yeah you heard right, 12 tracks of pure angst in a format most bands wouldn't even consider creating, on this their self titled debut 45. Introducing to the world one of punks truly cryptically deranged outfits that ever put their bile on record. If you missed out then, here's your chance to savour this impressive debut meticulously reprinted for a new generation of punks. They rarely performed live or gave interviews, but recorded enough bizarre ground breaking material to become mythologised in their own lifetime and this record is where it all started. Formed in June 1980 in Abotts Langley, Hertfordshire, England. Rudimentary Peni a clinically absurd name, inspired from their young bass players biology lesson. But it suited their perverse surreal sound tracks perfectly. They comprised of Nick Blinko (18) vocals/guitar and macabre artwork, drummer Jon Greville (18), and the aforementioned bass player Grant Matthews (16) who also co wrote the lyrics. Now the lyrics are something else with this band. You could probably write a whole thesis on the meaning of the fuckers, and still come up miles off target. Me, I leave all that to the intellectuals, I just love hearing them. "He is a Buddhist saviour, He is a Christian aider". You just never get bored of 'Teenage Time Killer' which has an hypnotic guitar intro you just know is gonna set you up for the blast of a lifetime that even the "skull of James Dean" can't relieve. Funny thing is, for songs so brutal and raw, each and everyone of them is a singalong masterpiece within the few seconds most of them are performed. When other punk bands who have tried for decades to ape their style have failed. It's because they forget or are just incapable of creating tunes of this calibre amongst the thrashing anger and psychotic attack. Which leaves a lot of thrash punk so one dimensional by comparison. Rudimentary Peni do all this and more and were a total one off. And what's even more shocking, is the melodic frenzy these kids unleash, always came with an incredible acidic sting in it's tail. On the rare occasion they slow it down for 'The Gardener' which has one of the best riffs of many on this EP. So much so, you can almost hear the roses grow and is one of the few tracks where Mr Blinko actually sounds almost human. As he lures us into the garden where "the roses have no thorns". We have to mention Blinko's phenomenal vocal delivery on these tracks. He snarls, he screams, he rages, he shrieks unlike anyone before or since. He even reassures us. Yeah the kind of uneasy reassurance someone with a wicked glint in their eye would offer as they open the car door and whisper "no parasites, no harm" in this scary dystopian society he inhabits. "B Ward' is probably the most insane and popular number, depending on who you ask. Because you realise this is a vision into Blinko's….or is it the "sane" Mathews teenage mind set? Whichever, it is a very scary place to be. One of the most strange lyrics is "E-Evil eye beyond sty and sky" which has always made me think! It's like somert outta Alice In Wonderland. So who needs drugs or hallucinogenics, when you can fix up RP on your stereo and create the feeling and euphoria of being high when suddenly your mind clicks in and the panic screams where am I? What's real? Every track on here has something unworldly in it's favour, and it sounds fantastic. Most songs come in under a minute yet so much goes into each tune you never get bored, you never hear the same riff there's so many changes, variations its pure skilful arrangements and at speed in such a short environment. Like mini symphonies in discord. "I get tired of the tide". We'll never really know what these songs mean to the songwriter, when they were first written? But we now know they mean a helluva lot to so many over the last 40 odd years and this record is a must buy if you haven't got the original. It comes with a fold out replica sleeve with the iconic Blinko foetus artwork and booklet. Remastered from original tapes by Arthur Rizk. It's rare we get a PUNK ROCK CLASSIC! within these pages. but this EP is the real blueprint for real Punk anger!
SEALED RECORDS
SLOW FACTION
'Culture & Other Wars'
(Slow Faction records)
CD March 9th 2022
Latest six tracker mini album from South London's Slow Faction who are new to me?, considering they are a band who pride themselves by playing '77 punk with a real London 77 sound'. They write 'politically charged songs with big hooks' and were compared by one reviewer as a cross between the Clash and Buzzcocks. Well that's a big comparison to make after hearing this 6 tracker. I do detect a certain Clash vibe going on with some of the arrangements, but that was where the comparison ends. If you want a '77 Clash sound, check out Dublin's Hooligan who really do give you complete control. Slow Faction on the other hand are missing that urgency, the promised hooks and the choruses just don't hit you between the eyes. I was expecting a lot more, but after numerous plays this release registered a pretty average reaction. The biggest problem is the vocals are too low in the mix and are struggling to get the message over. They have some good lyrics about the historic imbalance of power, the rise of the right, then rinse and repeat. But you'll need a political degree to negotiate songs like 'La Commune'. If you read the lyrics it's like a social history lesson on the great British mistake. And your left feeling just how many times can you skin this particular cat? This is a band who have a lot to say, maybe too much. Coz the amount of words they try and fit in don't help convey the message as clearly as they would like. The art in lyric writing is keeping the message in the simplest most potent form, which is a bummer for some songwriters coz the message can be lost if they edit it down or sing it a lot faster. Slow Faction don't manage to do either. They have loads of words and theories, but not much energy or a decent mix to project them. The name gives us a clue, they can't seem to get outta first gear with the songs and that leaves em pretty one dimensional speed wise. 'You've Been Fooled Again' is about Brexit (yawn) and suffers from a plodding drum beat, despite a good arrangement. Again they lose momentum with the subued vocals and a muffled delivery. And they seem to treat the general public as ignorant dumbo's who fell for the con. For the simple crime they voted for Brexit or maybe wave a flag when England are playing. C'mon this is England mate! We don't care if the band play live in front of the Saltire, why should we? More than half the country voted for Brexit so is everyone of us dumb or a Nazi coz they disagree with your line of political thought or if they wanna wave a flag in their own backyard. A lot of people are displaying Ukraine flags in solidarity over the war these days, and fair play to 'em! But does that make them fascists or bigots too? They certainly know their stuff politically but are never gonna convert us when it's delivered in such a monotonous one way thread, it loses impact. They remind me of bands like the Newtown Neurotics lyrically, but even they had some humour and a lot more pace and that's probably the other major difference. Slow Faction are one speed merchants and they need to make the message more articulate like a Strummer/Jones or a Olgivie/Burns play on words, that made their songs so impressive. These songs do go on a bit, none of them are under 3 min 25 and they don't vary em with a couple of short hit and run numbers, like some of the better punk bands did. Fer instance the Dead Kennedys or even Crass. They seem a bit too high brow to keep my interest for long. I love a good slagging in music, and they seem very keen to slag off the British Empire, however we learned about the Roman Empire in school and that seemed fine no statues toppled on that score. The best number of the lot was the last song 'Bubblegum For Josh', what wasn't a political history lesson thank gawd. This time they put down all the young punks who know fuck all about life and old punks who vote Tory or read the Daily Mail. We all know whoever you vote for these days is irrelevant, coz everyone of 'em are cunts. And a lot of these young punks are very sussed indeed, so don't write 'em off just yet. But it's easily the best song of the dozen on show, coz you could feel the anger better. However Slow Faction are gonna be a hard sell in this day and age, when there are literally thousands of punk bands who are also competent musicians to stand out from a crowd. And those grey sleeves the records are dressed in don't help. They sing about diversity or the lack of it in British culture, but don't seem to wanna add a splash of colour to their own record covers. I'd like Slow Faction to write a song about some of the good things they see too, not just the "walking misery" and see what they come up with? AVERAGE!
SLOW FACTION
